Yeah, me too. I can't remember who it was, but someone looked at my beach photos once and said, "Yeah, it's nice. But, I can't really get excited about it because I've been to Hawaii." Well, now I get it. After going to Hawaii, even I don't really like any of the beach photos I took from California. I'll get to posting some of those photos eventually. Still going through my California photos.

I visited a friend in San Diego, and we went to the zoo. Of course, it's known as the best zoo in the country, so I was looking forward to it. Now, I wouldn't tell her this (and I'm safe saying it here), but ... it was a letdown.

They take a lot of pride in their zoo, so I wasn't going to say the Nashville Zoo (who no one has really ever heard of) is better. But... to me, it is. What the San Diego zoo has going for it, though, are rare animals. I feel like I'd seen a Giant Panda when I was a child at the Philadelphia Zoo (maybe they were on tour), but hadn't since. And, even though their two pandas were both sleeping, it was still cool to see them. I believe they're the only zoo in the U.S. that has the giant panda. So, that was special. And, they had four penguins. Not a lot... I've seen a lot more in Tampa at their small but beautiful Lowry Park Zoo. But, it's been a while, so I was happy to meet McKinney (a photo will be coming). Nashville doesn't have any bears, so seeing this huge grizzly (who woke up and stretched, showing me his huge paws) was kinda cool. And, we don't have hippos or koalas either. But, most of the rest, we did have. And we had in abundance. But what really bothered me, since I'm usually interested in photographing the animals more than just looking at them, is that nearly every exhibit had animals either behind glass, or behind a fence. These things are extremely rare at the Nashville zoo. Both glass enclosures and fence enclosures make quality photography very difficult. Plus, it's sad to think that these animals are in a cage all their lives. In Nashville, they built the habitats so that each was impossible to cross and leave, with some type of moats, or other natural things. If there are fences, which I believe the Elephants are in, they are in HUGE (yuuuuuge) areas, so the elephants can actually run and play, and not even feel that they're in a cage of any type.

So San Diego zoo, which I was expecting to be the best zoo experience ever, was just not. I'm going to have to get back to the Nashville Zoo soon and visit again -- now I have a new appreciation for it.

Anyway, here's all I got that's worth looking at, after spending the entire day at the zoo:

I'm still going through my pics from my vacation -- this portion of the thread has become a bit of a travelogue, but I think that's useful for photography -- to share all the best places that you've photographed while on vacation. I also hope I don't completely thread-hog this topic. Please -- others jump in anytime.

The day after the zoo, while still in San Diego, my friend picked the perfect beach for photography -- The Children's Pool Beach at La Jolla. The beach has an interesting story. A local philanthropist (Ellen Browning Scripps) built a huge sea wall to break the waves to give families a relaxing beach where children could play without fear of the crashing waves. What they didn't expect, was that they created the perfect habitat for seals, who also enjoy lounging on the beach without the huge waves. The seals eventually took over the beach! On those days when the beach is still open to the public, it might not be the cleanest environment with a hundred or so seals lounging about, but then again, what an amazing experience it would be to share the beach with them! I visited during mating season, so the beach was closed to the public, but the seals were able to have the beach to themselves, and they sunned on the nearby rocks, or just flopped down on the sand -- all together, probably between 80 - 100 seals were there that day.

The first pic doesn't look photographically spectacular, but it should at least give an idea of the area, and the huge sea wall, which is now a perfect viewing point from which to enjoy the seals.

These seals were so comfortable on those rocks, one picture wasn't enough of them (I took dozens) I love the way the brown seal stretches out his little legs (and surprise to me, they are legs, not one big split tail) like he's on a recliner:

These seals were hysterical. They sat on the edge of the rocks, and waited for the waves to crash, then they'd do that pose (gymnasts would have a name for it), enjoying the water as it splashed on them. They didn't hold that pose, they would relax between waves.

And here's a closeup of one of them posing with the wave.

And let me tell you, he had the whole wall captivated and laughing at him.

We then took a break, since it was about 2 hours until sunset, and you know I can't miss a sunset over the beach opportunity. So, we found a nearby restaurant (The Living Room) and had a wonderful late lunch/dinner, at the only table with a beach view.

Then, it was back to the beach for photos.

Unfortunately, this beautifully relaxed sunset photo wasn't exactly reality -- my friend was complaining we wouldn't be able to climb back up the rocks to get off the beach if we didn't leave NOW because high tide was approaching. Fortunately, she got an important phone call, and went back up and I was able to stick around and get some cool shots.

Back up the rocks, probably 30 minutes past sunset, it was the reddest sky I'd ever seen.

Yes, they'll be next! First, I'll finish up California. This is the last spot for San Diego -- Balboa Park. It's a public park with gardens, museums, live music, shops, and restaurants.

This shrub had a spiderweb that had caught the sprinkler water, and it looked like beads of glass

I noticed a few things about this park that I haven't seen much of in Nashville -- lots of energy. Lots of people running, jogging, skateboarding, and even a lot of romance. Lots of couples in love, and this young lady was hastening off to her wedding (or her wedding photos). I didn't see her face, but liked the photo op anyway.

This sculpture is at the entrance of the Mingei International Museum:

And, one shot of the beautiful ornate architecture that was everywhere (and man, what a blue sky!):

I just found this pic online -- the photographer had used the panorama function to show the entire beach wall that creates the Children's Pool, so you can see that the seals aren't in captivity, they come and go as they please.

Matt, your photos are just spectacular. Being married to a highly skilled amateur photographer, I appreciated your comments about the sunset photo shoot. That sky leaves me without words! I'm not the most patient person in the world when bored, so try to find some way of keeping occupied when hubby decides to take pictures. Before kids came along, I used the camera that my father-in-law gave me (he who had his son trained by a famous photographer in Taiwan) to take pictures of the photographer. I'll have to dig some out and scan them as they are pre-digital by a couple of years. It does lend an element of fun to the waiting. I even learned to take pictures when we weren't out together.

Matt, your photos are just spectacular. Being married to a highly skilled amateur photographer, I appreciated your comments about the sunset photo shoot. That sky leaves me without words! I'm not the most patient person in the world when bored, so try to find some way of keeping occupied when hubby decides to take pictures.

I guess you mean the comments about being nagged to avoid certain death from high tide? Haha, yeah. She was probably more than a little bored. She didn't worry about my impending death while she was on the phone.

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Before kids came along, I used the camera that my father-in-law gave me (he who had his son trained by a famous photographer in Taiwan) to take pictures of the photographer. I'll have to dig some out and scan them as they are pre-digital by a couple of years. It does lend an element of fun to the waiting. I even learned to take pictures when we weren't out together.

Next stop was Oahu, Hawaii. I actually wound up going to Hawaii alone. Last minute changes, and I wasn't going to throw away the non-transferable airfare, so just decided to go by myself, and use it as a photography trip. As it turns out, it was really great that way. I didn't bore anyone with my photography, i communed with nature, and I really was able to be like a "real" photographer.... planning the day around where to be to make the most of the daylight, and where I wanted to shoot, etc.

However, there were a lot of events that were already paid for in advance, so I went to them. One was a luau, and of course you have to go to a luau if you're in Hawaii. I just didn't expect it to be so romantic, and sentimental, and sweet. There was one point during the Luau where they asked all the people who had been married for 25 or more years to go up on the stage, and a woman was up there without her husband because he wasn't at the luau, and they did a special song for them. Well, the Chief who runs the luau, was telling everyone to get up and dance with the person who loved you. And there she was, by herself on the stage (along with all the other couples). One of the fire dancers went up to her, and put his arms around her. Then Chief said, "and now, just because you may not have said it for a while, tell him or her that you love them." And the dancer looks her in the eyes, and says, "I love you". She laughs, "You love ME?" "I LOVE you." he replied. And there was no reason to not believe him. In his way, he loved everyone on that island.

It's not a great photo, it's just a snapshot. I used flash -- which I tried not to do all night because it was a live show, but I wanted that photo to come out. If you have a photo of something, you rarely will forget it. And I wanted to remember how loving that luau was. And if you're ever in Oahu, go to The Chief's Luau because it's rated the best, and I can't imagine a better one.